Keyword – Television & radio
Trefwoorden – Television, Television & radio, Culture
Title – Proud review – the gorgeous tale of a hard-partying model who ends up a dad | Television | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jack-seale
Link – Proud review – the gorgeous tale of a hard-partying model who ends up a dad | Television | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-12T07:01:37.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jun/12/proud-review-the-gorgeous-tale-of-a-hard-partying-model-who-ends-up-a-dad

F ilip Raczyński (Ignacy Liss) is really enjoying his late 20s. We meet him on a modelling assignment, this vocation having been handed to him by his sparkling eyes and soft jawline, good looks he accentuates with a biker jacket and bleached hair. He has vodka and Diet Coke for breakfast and a bump of powder in an Uber on the way to his next job. At night we follow him through the backrooms of a club, until he finds one where the naked men are almost as beautiful as he is. He loses himself in them and worries about nothing.

It’s less fun to be in Filip’s immediate social orbit. His agent’s nervy assistant, Olek (Kamil Studnicki), has to cover for Filip’s perpetual lateness and, on the night after the club odyssey, is obliged to look after his badly behaved dog, because Filip has only just rescued it from a drug dealer who resorted to dognapping to force him to pay moneys owed. Filip’s decision to bring four of the guys from the club home with him, meanwhile, goes down poorly with his sister Anka (Sylwia Boroń), the single mum of a one-year-old girl, Tosia. Filip is crashing at their flat, and he’s not keeping to his promise to help with the bins and laundry.

The topline premise of Proud is that Anka dies and Filip ends up caring for and then looks to adopt little Tosia, but it takes all of the first episode to get there. By the time calamity descends, we know Filip well and are in the same position as his friends and family – not nearly as angry or disappointed as we feel we should be, because he’s just too energetically roguish. Make him straight and spin him back 20 years to London, and he could be the protagonist of a racy romcom starring Hugh, or possibly Richard E, Grant. The child is to be the manchild’s salvation.

Proud – conceived and directed by Karol Klementewicz and co-written by him and Monika Pęcikiewicz – is a fair bit grittier than its potentially cheesy setup. That said, it loses something upon being shown outside its native Poland. In Britain – even the backsliding, eve-of-fascism Britain of 2026 – viewers will mostly shrug their shoulders at the concept of a gay man adopting a child, although they might raise their eyebrows at this particular one doing it. In Poland, the whole idea is culturally controversial and legally difficult, as we see when a solicitor advises Filip that if he wants to avoid Tosia being taken away from him – which Filip fears deeply, since he and Anka grew up unhappy in foster care after their mother died and their father drifted away – he needs “to stop being gay for some time”.

The show likes to throw in sly black humour like that, along with some fully hilarious slapstick. Filip turns up to a modelling audition and is asked to strip to his underwear, but isn’t wearing any so he stands there nude, leading to a terrific visual gag when the funniest possible thing happens; an appearance modelling swimwear on Poland’s answer to This Morning ends messily when Filip’s drugs kick in.

Mainly, though, Proud deals in pain, shame and a yearning for connection. The chosen family Filip is left with when all his biological family have gone are tenderly sketched, from poor faithful Olek, who tries to be a sassy man-eater but is really, as revealed when he belts out a piano-cabaret cover of Creep by Radiohead, a sweet soul broken by unrequited love; to makeup artist Kiki (Maria Sobocińska), who evidently had her teenage daughter far too young and has never quite got the hang of any life skill that isn’t parenting. They are not perfect but they love Filip, and their love language is putting up with him.

It’s a convincing ensemble, and the scenes with Tosia are so gorgeous and believable, you almost start crediting tiny Alicja Lewczuk with being an accomplished actor, despite her not yet having acquired the power of speech. As well as knowing how to marshal his cast, Klementewicz elevates Proud’s audiovisual palette to the cinematic with his use of closeups, moments of ringing silence, and the odd unforgettable image: Filip, who was on the dancefloor when the hospital rang with bad news, leaves a smear of glitter on his sister when he kisses her cold cheek in the morgue and gets ready to leave his flashy lifestyle behind.

By the end of episode three – which closes with a montage of Filip and Tosia, soundtracked to stunning effect by Kae Tempest’s Hold Your Own – we are on board, prepared to fight for Filip as he makes a ton more mistakes we will happily forgive.

Proud is on HBO Max now

Keyword – Sport
Trefwoorden – Formula One 2026, Silverstone, British Grand Prix, Formula One, Motor sport, Sport
Title – The Glastonbury of motorsport: how Silverstone became the biggest GP in F1 history | Formula One 2026 | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/gilesrichards
Link – The Glastonbury of motorsport: how Silverstone became the biggest GP in F1 history | Formula One 2026 | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-12T09:04:41.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jun/12/the-glastonbury-of-motorsport-how-silverstone-became-the-biggest-gp-in-f1-history

The scale of change at the British Grand Prix in recent years will be writ large come July when the meeting is poised to become the biggest in Formula One history.

The race this year is expected to sell out its new capacity of 570,000 over four days, which will be a record-breaking 50,000 increase on the previous highest attendance of 520,000 at the Australian GP in 1995. Only Wimbledon, across two weeks, will boast more numbers in the UK summer with Silverstone the largest event on F1’s calendar.

This is a turnaround of demographics as well as size that was almost impossible to imagine a little under a decade ago when the race was in danger of disappearing from the calendar all together.

The resurgence of F1 and indeed the fortunes of the old airfield have gone to an extent hand in hand. In Silverstone’s case, adaptation and innovation has put the track at the vanguard of dragging what had been a creaking part of the sport into catering to a demanding, sophisticated and younger audience.

Female attendance now makes up 43% of sales at the British GP. In the area at Silverstone dedicated to the British defending world champion, Lando Norris – the “Landostand”, which has been expanded to accommodate 20,000 this year – women make up more than half of the audience.

Stuart Pringle, Silverstone’s chief executive, is proud of how they have embraced and encouraged F1’s new followers. “Ten years ago people would have scoffed at the concept of nearly a 50-50 male‑female split. Unimaginable,” he says. “This concept of value for the weekend and a blend of different types of fans is working for us.

“This diversification has been powered so successfully by the unexpected growth in popularity in Formula One . That’s raising awareness, bringing the new crowd and once they find Silverstone they love the vibe of the grand prix and we’re loving these new friends.”

Hard as it is to imagine now amid the huge, smiling crowds at Silverstone, in 2017 the circuit activated the break clause on its contract with F1, allowing it to pull out in 2019 – with a very real danger that the British GP, which has been on the F1 calendar since the inaugural season in 1950, would cease to exist.

In 2015 and 2016 it was attracting race‑day audiences of 139,000 but losing money to the tune of £2.8m in 2015 and £4.8m in 2016. The key issue was the escalator clause in the contract done with the then F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, under which the fee rose from £11.5m in 2010 to £16.2m in 2017. It would have been due to reach £25m by 2026.

Silverstone felt it was unsustainable and two years of negotiations with F1’s new rights owners, Liberty Media, followed. A new deal was signed at the very last minute, on the Wednesday before the British GP of 2019. It gave the circuit a new lease of life since when it has thrived.

“Pulling the break clause wasn’t scary because what would have been scary was to stay on that contract,” Pringle says. “Yes, there was uncertainty but it didn’t feel like it was going to be any worse where we were. I inked the signature [on the new contract] on the Wednesday afternoon before the event started on Friday morning. It went right to the wire and that was nerve-racking.”

Pringle was given an OBE this year for his work, an award he insists belongs to the whole organisation and since 2019, freed form the shackles of a financially crippling deal, they were able to take the event to the next level. As Liberty pursued its new agenda of making F1 meetings destination entertainment events, Silverstone was on board. It saw out Covid, just, and as F1 rode the wave of popularity of Drive to Survive, adapted to this new, growing audience.

The days of three blokes stood on a grassy knoll and a burger van were long gone. The British GP is now almost a motorsport Glastonbury, with a host of music, entertainment (Ally Pally-style darts on Sunday with Luke Littler included), food and facilities to ensure an overall experience that goes beyond the 90‑minute race itself. All of which may be derided by traditionalists, but the numbers demonstrate unequivocally that it is popular and has worked.

The range of entertainment is broad indeed. Music highlights from a wide-ranging bill this year include David Guetta, Richard Ashcroft, Chase and Status, and James Arthur; with late-night DJ sets from John Newman, Rudimental, Pendulum and MK. The night at the darts has Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen and Fallon Sherrock alongside Littler; there is a dedicated comedy tent featuring Lou Sanders and Paul Chowdhry, and a big-top stage aimed at a family audience.

They have also attempted to address every area. The traffic, once arguably the most torturously bad on the entire calendar, has been extensively reorganised. The track hires 600 double-decker buses as part of its park-and-ride and rail-and-ride scheme to shift an expected 167,000 people, while camping facilities now extend to accommodate 60,000 around the circuit.

These are the unglamorous logistics, like how to address the queues for the loos when everyone wants to go pre- and post-race, that don’t garner headlines but which are very much part of making the experience worthwhile and worth the price.

The latter has of course caused controversy. Popularity has led to soaring demand and there has been pushback over the cost to attend, notably because prices are far from where they were a decade ago.

Pringle, however, robustly defends their position. Having been part of the government’s dynamic pricing inquiry, he notes that 60% of customers who buy early tickets pay less than the average and less than if it was legislated to have a flat ticket price. His point is illustrated in that when first on sale a three‑day general admission ticket was £269 and is now £419.

That prices have been rising over time is undeniable, but that is the case at every popular GP on the calendar and very few are putting on quite the show Silverstone is now managing and expects to present once more come July.

“We’re committed to putting value into the ticket for the fans,” Pringle says. “We’re doing pretty well at getting the right sort of thing so that there’s something in it for everybody.”

Keyword – Games
Trefwoorden – Games, Culture, James Bond, Action games, Adventure games
Title – ‘The enormity of the idea helped me’: how Patrick Gibson became gaming’s new James Bond | Games | The Guardian
Author – Matthew Castle
Link – ‘The enormity of the idea helped me’: how Patrick Gibson became gaming’s new James Bond | Games | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-10T11:00:19.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/games/2026/jun/10/patrick-gibson-gamings-new-james-bond-007-first-light

I s any acting gig more contested than James Bond? Each week seems to bring a din of audition speculation so loud that it must be exhausting for the Elordis, Cavills and Dickinsons who are at the centre of it all. But when one of them does finally bag the role, perhaps they should seek the counsel of the actor who has quietly played the part for the last five years: Patrick Gibson. He’s the star of 007 First Light, the video game that has sold 2.7m copies since it was released two weeks ago.

As a computerised Bond, Gibson is the first video game actor to lend both his voice and likeness to the role. With endorsement from both Amazon MGM and previous brand guardians Eon there’s a case to be made that he is the seventh official Bond (and the second Irish one). Not that he knew this when submitting a self-tape to Danish developers IO Interactive. “There was talk of martinis in the audition sides that gave me an inkling,” says Gibson. “Although at that point I didn’t believe there was any way it could be that.”

And when the penny dropped? “It definitely tested my anxiety threshold.”

The key to pushing through that – listen up all you would-be 007s – was to lean into the pressure. “I think the enormity of the idea helped me. It felt so impossible as a dream that I was like, sure, may as well throw my hat in here,” he explains. Once he saw how IOI’s team had shaped the character, it only solidified his resolve. “It felt so quintessentially Bond, that it was almost carrying me along. I went from wanting to portray a character I’d known, to suddenly feeling like I was actually becoming it a little more.”

First Light adds the extra wrinkle of being an origin story. This isn’t new territory for Gibson, who’s best known for playing young Dexter Morgan in serial killer prequel Dexter: Original Sin. But there he had the north star of Michael C Hall’s older killer: glazed stare, sly intonation and terrible haircut. Although Daniel Craig was “his” Bond growing up, Gibson resisted aping any one turn, instead looking for common ground between portrayals. “The most exciting part was stripping away the experiences of the Bonds we’ve met in books and films and being left with the DNA of ‘who is this person?’ What ingredients existed before, that were perhaps nature rather than nurture?”

The game’s narrative director Martin Emborg definitely seems more invested in pinning down character qualities over a tick-box exercise in nudge-nudge fan-service. “The trappings – the martinis, the one-liners, the tuxedo – very easily get a jokey, tropey quality to them,” he says. “You need to double down on who the character is, and why he’s in situations where those things exist. Taking it seriously is what gives it the gravity that it absolutely needs to land.”

Still, it must have been pretty cool to say “Bond, James Bond”, right? Gibson’s cagey about which signature moments appear in the game – it doesn’t open with the gun barrel stroll, for starters – but agrees with our assessment that outside “To be or not to be” there are few line deliveries more scrutinised. What’s it like waking up, knowing you have to say it that day? “You have to imagine you’ve never heard it before. You remove yourself from the pop culture element and find truth in those moments. These things are organic happenings, rather than winking ‘a-ha’ moments.”

If the legacy wasn’t already challenging enough, there’s the extra layer of technical abstraction that comes with any video game performance. No jet-setting location shoots here. Filming First Light’s several hours of cutscenes required head-mounted cameras, tracking dots all over the face, blinding lights and an unflattering morph suit. “You’re almost literally naked,” says Gibson. “Which acting can feel like, but this takes it to a new degree. And then Martin says”: ‘Look cool and elegant. Action!’”

When we speak Gibson hasn’t yet played the game, nervously trusting that it has come along since early glimpses where “James Bond would walk in made up of boxes and spheres” and he had to keep it to himself that “I wasn’t totally impressed by the graphics”. There’s also the oddness of seeing strangers steer his digital likeness around. “It didn’t really dawn on me until my mate said: ‘I can’t wait to play as you in this game’, and that is the weirdest thing I’ve ever thought about.”

Above all this hangs the question of where Gibson’s performance will eventually sit in the grand scheme of 007. It’s been easy up until this point to treat Bond’s video game adaptations as a geeky offshoot; the buzzier conversation is always around who’ll play the role on film (although Gibson’s First Light co-star Lennie James said film-makers “would be mad” to not consider him for the part). Emborg sees the game as its own, meaningful alternative. “We’ve had the literary Bond. We’ve had the cinematic Bond for 62 years. What we have here is an interactive Bond that exists in its own right.”

Gibson certainly seems to be enjoying the full Bond experience. Seeing his character model for the first time (dapper, no tux). Learning what car he’ll tear around in (an Aston Martin Valhalla). Hearing his theme song (a stonking Lana Del Rey/David Arnold collaboration). For Gibson, these firsts are impossible to rank. “I had to constantly remind myself that I was doing it. It feels both ingrained, but also a world I couldn’t possibly be a part of,” he says. “I think the only way for me to approach it was with ownership, ignoring the canon and taking this reimagined character into this next stage.”

007 First Light is out now on PC, PS5 and Xbox on 27 May; and releases on Nintendo Switch 2 later in summer

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – World Cup 2026, England, Thomas Tuchel, World Cup, Football, Sport
Title – Nobody should underestimate what Thomas Tuchel can do with England | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/emma-hayes
Link – Nobody should underestimate what Thomas Tuchel can do with England | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-12T11:00:43.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/12/thomas-tuchel-england-world-cup

In Thomas Tuchel , England have an elite coach. Don’t underestimate him. In my 12 years working at Chelsea, he and Mauricio Pochettino were my two favourite managers.

Thomas is a great communicator, he’s demanding and he articulates himself really well. I admire the way he transfers information to the press and to players in a clear, concise way that is methodical, inspirational and detailed, all at the same time.

I’ve seen him work at Chelsea. I’ve watched him in training and I’m a huge fan. He’s honest with his players and very direct. He doesn’t waste time – this is business, this is serious – but he’s also a fantastic guy.

He’s warm, friendly, open and he built great relationships with the Chelsea staff. He would invite the women’s staff to watch his sessions and he always made me feel very welcome. I will never forget when we won the 2021 Fifa Best awards for men’s and women’s coach of the year, at home during Covid, both watching on a Zoom call. When Thomas won, I was so happy for him.

It has been three weeks since Thomas picked his 26-player squad for this World Cup finals tournament and I know how carefully he will have thought through every decision. He’s the kind of coach who is going to die on his sword. Sometimes we get caught up in the wrong things when a squad is announced for a major tournament. There are always going to be top-quality players left out. That’s a given.

Thomas has been very clear – he’s got 14 or 15 core players who will be involved in almost every game. Any changes to the starting XI are likely to come from within that group, so sometimes we get too caught up on the whole “26 players”. The reality for a head coach is you need a squad that can come away for 50 days, be together and accept their roles, because plenty of them won’t play. So what are their behaviours like? What are their contributions to the team like? You have to factor in all of those things because you still have to keep the harmony. A common goal requires sacrifice and the right ego. You can see he has also gone for very athletic and durable players.

This is never a quick decision for a coach such as Thomas. The decision-making process starts with what he wants in terms of his game model and who can cope with the demands, the environmental conditions, playing in great humidity and in heat. He’s had enough opportunity during England’s impeccable qualification process – eight wins out of eight and no goals conceded – to see these players inside-out.

You can’t evaluate things just on what players are doing for clubs. You have the benefit of knowing how they respond in the international environment. Somebody such as Bukayo Saka has built up credit for England over a long period of time.

When you leave players out, it is never an easy phone call. There is no great way to tell someone that news and it is not a fun thing to do. Sometimes it’s very quick: “Listen, you haven’t made the group and I just wanted you to know that” – and that’s that. Sometimes it’s: “If you’ve got any questions, you can ask” – and more often than not, they’re like: “No”. Every manager will have their own methods.

Phil Foden and Cole Palmer are exceptional talents and it’s disappointing when players are left out. But you can’t leave Jude Bellingham out of the squad, and I think Eberechi Eze has also had a good second half of the season, so I understand Thomas’s decision to include him.

If there was one call I was a bit surprised by, it was Palmer. I thought Palmer might have snuck in because when you haven’t got Jack Grealish and Foden, sometimes having that little bit of magic can be a big help. I know he’s scored only seven goals since the start of 2026 and hasn’t been at his top level, but he’s a special player with special feet. At the same time, I understand the decision. Every time I hear Thomas speaking about it, he’s very clear on the profile he’s looking for.

He will have also wanted to ensure he has a group that can cope well at set pieces, which will be a huge factor. He has picked plenty of quality in the front areas. Ollie Watkins finished the season strongly. Some might argue Dominic Solanke could have been closer to a place if he were fit, although I don’t think he’s had a great season, and Dominic Calvin‑Lewin was an option but Ivan Toney is an exceptional finisher.

If you need a goal in a tight game, Toney may produce a bit of magic – and in a tournament where we can expect a lot of games to be decided by penalty shootouts, having such a top-level penalty taker who you can bring off the bench in extra time will have been a big consideration too. That can be priceless.

England get their campaign under way against Croatia on Wednesday and I cannot wait for that. Nobody should underestimate this top, top coach.

Keyword – Fashion
Trefwoorden – Men’s fashion, Fashion, World Cup 2026, World Cup, Football, Life and style, Sport, Netherlands, USA, England, Spain, Germany, France, Japan
Title – Fashion goals: World Cup’s style tournament has already kicked off | Men's fashion | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/laurencochrane
Link – Fashion goals: World Cup’s style tournament has already kicked off | Men's fashion | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-05T13:16:13.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2026/jun/05/fashion-goals-world-cup-style-tournament-kicked-off

The 2026 World Cup may not kick off until Thursday, but the fashion tournament has already begun, as teams arrive at training camps across the US.

Fashion moments range from the outfits players wear to get to training, to the suits worn on planes and their training gear. The French team’s training camp in Clairefontaine became something of a catwalk this week thanks to the style of players such as Jules Koundé and Kylian Mbappé. Meanwhile, brands including Loewe, Gabriela Hearst, Patta and the rapper Drake’s Nocta have worked with teams on suiting and training gear.

Since the last tournament in 2022, fashion’s influence on football has skyrocketed, with brands working with players and clubs, and the personal style of players influencing what young men wear, often thanks to carousels of images on Instagram and the outfits photographed when they arrive at training . This is set to increase further at the World Cup, with players including the Spanish ace Lamine Yamal, the Netherlands’ Virgil van Dijk and Koundé already posting outfits to their Instagram accounts.

“Fashion has been given a currency that it hasn’t had before,” says Mahalia Chang, the style editor of GQ. “We’re seeing more of the players and, unconsciously or not, we’re putting more weight on what they wear, and I think they’re aware of that.”

Chang points to Yamal – who wore a Chanel jacket recently – and Van Dijk as players to watch for the tournament. “[Yamal] takes a lot of courage to step outside the box and you can tell he feels great,” she says. “[Van Dijk’s style] is elevated, classic but it still has a nice edge to it.”

Ahead of the tournament, here are the teams and players who are so far winning the style games.

Netherlands

It makes sense that the Dutch streetwear brand Patta would work with the Dutch team at the World Cup. The bold orange and black prints featuring lions and chains – shades of 80s Versace – have already been worn by the team captain, Van Dijk on the cover of Fantastic Man magazine and for a pre-tournament friendly against Algeria.

United States

As manager of the US team, Mauricio Pochettino regularly wears a relaxed-fit suit, with an open jacket and jersey underneath. When the US players were revealed this tournament, they were dressed in a similar manner – a clever mirroring that signals the synergy between boss and players, and also flashes forward to their potential post-playing careers as managers themselves.

England

Jude Bellingham has never been the kind of guy to take huge fashion risks. But, like his Real Madrid teammate Mbappé, he always looks pristine. While other teammates are in slightly crumpled sportswear or the regulation not-grey-and-not-blue-either England tracksuit, which as Sports Direct vibes, he turned up in tasteful beige co-ords and made sleeveless knits seem like a viable option in near 30-degree heat.

Spain

The Spanish brand Loewe has the kind of fashion pedigree usually reserved for catwalk shows. But it’s now also working with the national team on suits. The designs in question, worn by players including Nico Williams and Pedri, are therefore distinctly more fashion forward than most footballers’ suits– with wide trousers and one-button jackets. Classy.

Germany

Germany’s plane outfits were varied but all variations on the theme – whether slackets, chinos, tasteful knits or fresh white tees, all in a colour palette of navy, beige and white. The dads-on-tour look is not dissimilar to the designs that the England team wore when outfitted by Marks & Spencer for Euro 2024 . Simple, approachable and wearable – think clothing equally at home at the school gates or a weekend barbecue.

France

Much has been made of the French team’s off-duty style prowess when arriving at their training camp Clairefontaine. While sadly they now have to wear their regulation training kits most of the time, there are still details to note. These Nike Air Max Plus sneakers – a current favourite with twentysomethings – ensure Les Bleus make their mark, even in uniform.

Japan

When departing Japan for the World Cup, the Samurai Blue wore pristine suits, with slightly asymmetrical waistcoats. The stand out player was defender Yuto Nagatomo, who added a traditional hachimaki headband, to symbolise fighting spirit. A different mood arrived when they reached Monterrey in Mexico – and the governor Samual Garcia handed the team cowboy hats .

Could have been a contender: Hungary’s Dominik Szoboszlai

Liverpool fans well know Szoboszlai’s ability to change games on the pitch. Although Hungary failed to qualify for the World Cup, his arrival at the team’s recent training camp in white just-below-the-knee culottes had a similar effect off it. GQ’s Chang describes his look as “a high-risk, high-reward kind of outfit”. Hermès bag aside, it has more in common with the looks found in east London than on most footballers, and has already spawned memes to that effect . Although he’s been mercilessly mocked by the football community for it, he’s top of the league for fashion.

Keyword – Sport
Trefwoorden – New York Knicks, NBA finals, NBA, Sport, Basketball, New York, US news, San Antonio Spurs, US sports, World news
Title – Knicks fans: share your reaction to the NBA finals | New York Knicks | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/guardian-community-team
Link – Knicks fans: share your reaction to the NBA finals | New York Knicks | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-09T15:24:03.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jun/09/new-york-knicks-fans-nba-finals-callout

The New York Knicks are leading the NBA finals 3-1 against the San Antonio Spurs , much to the excitement of fans across the world. It’s their first appearance in the playoff finals since 1999, when they lost the best-of-seven series to the very same Texas team.

We would like to hear from New Yorkers and Knicks fans, both in the state and around the globe, about how they’re feeling in this current moment. With the Knicks doing so well after so long, how are you celebrating? How are you feeling about the future?

If you’re having trouble using the form, click here . Read terms of service here and privacy policy here .

Keyword – Life and style
Trefwoorden – Life and style, Parents and parenting, Family
Title – The one change that worked: my husband and I created a simple and life-changing parenting rota | Life and style | The Guardian
Author – Catherine Cho
Link – The one change that worked: my husband and I created a simple and life-changing parenting rota | Life and style | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-08T09:00:05.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/jun/08/the-one-change-that-worked-husband-and-i-created-life-changing-parenting-rota

I t was when my second child was born in 2021 that I realised I needed a new system for parenting. We were coming out of lockdown, and I was tired and overwhelmed. During the pandemic, my husband and I had built our own mini unit in the UK, as our families lived in the US. I had decided to start my own literary agency as soon as my daughter was old enough to start nursery at six months. It wasn’t ideal timing, but I wanted to start as soon as possible.

I approached finding a parenting system the way I think many women of my generation do, with the same intensity that we would have approached a school dissertation. I decided to crowdsource my research: I watched videos of home-schooling mums in the US demonstrating their morning routines, I read every parenting book I could, I listened to podcasters interviewing mothers who seemingly “had it all”, and listened to others who argued that “having it all” was impossible.

My husband is a research professor and a scientist, and his approach to parenting had always been practical. When I started working after the birth of my second child, he designed a colour-coded spreadsheet setting out our tasks.

It initially seemed like a success, but as time went on, I noticed that more and more tasks and things to remember were ending up on my side. There was a great deal of resentment, on both sides, and it was heightened by the stress of night feeds, pumping breast milk and the financial pressure of making the business sustainable. I saw the viral French comic by Emma about the “mental load” , and how so many details of daily life are managed by mums in what is often invisible labour. I shared it with my husband, with what felt like a scream and an accusatory finger, pointing: “Look!”

Even with all my research, I couldn’t figure out how best to manage our family. Finally, my husband, ever a problem solver, asked that we sit down to work it out. He asked me to write down everything I was responsible for. We tried to divide them again, more equally, but realised that often one task connects to another.

We decided instead to look at the day in shifts and split the hours into a morning shift and an afternoon-evening shift. He would be fully in charge of the morning and everything it entailed – breakfast (which included making sure there were groceries for breakfast), getting dressed, packing school bags, and drop-off. I would do pickup onwards. So: dinner, bath time, bedtime. It is a schedule we still follow years later – my son is now eight and my daughter is five.

It’s not a perfect system, but it works for us. There is no “double parenting”, so my husband is fully in charge of the morning. I let him run things his own way and facilitate this by leaving the house so I don’t interfere. I have noticed that he’s more relaxed if something is forgotten: if there are no breakfast supplies, they pick up something on the way to school. Sometimes the uniforms are wrong, sometimes homework is forgotten, but he tends to let the small things go.

My afternoons and evenings aren’t much smoother, but I suppose I care more about the details. I call my shift “the dinner rush” as it reminds me of the days when I worked as a waitress. I pick up the kids from after-school club and then it’s a bit of a blur – I cook dinner, they eat, practise piano, have a bath, enjoy reading time, then it’s bedtime. Many of my clients are based in the US, so after they go to bed, I go back to work.

I know that having this rota for daily life doesn’t sound particularly idyllic, and our families have commented that it sounds overly regimented. But I have learned that structure can offer freedom. Because I know that I’m only responsible for the afternoon and night, I can switch off my parenting brain in the morning, and I’m able to have mental space without feeling as if everything has to be overseen by me. Perhaps there’ll be a time where I won’t want to be an afternoon-evening parent, but, for now, I’m happy to be on the dinner rush.

The Devoted by Catherine Cho is published by 4th Estate (£16.99). To support the Guardian buy a copy at guardianbookshop.com . Delivery charges may apply.

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